1st of many probably dumb questions with 63 c10 brake conversion

[neverwinter]

well after thinking and listening to advice on here i bought a donor frame with nice and new wheels and tires. got everything but the power steering pump and pulleys.

got the frame home and started to take the cross member off and i need to remove the engine mounts to get to a few bolts. no big deal but got me wondering:

on my 63 do i need to support the engine in order to remove the stock cross member for the swap? i have a stock 283 in there - should i use the same stock mounts or use the ones from the sbc 350 that are on the 79 crossmember?

thanks all. and i got the parts from captain fab and ordered the ladder bar suspension swap kit from cpp as well.

- jason

[63sbssbbw]

Use your '63 mounts
The '79 frame rails are taller and the mounts are different.
T

[neverwinter]

thanks 63. i assume then i need to keep the engine supported? i know this is an idiotic question but everyone has written that its a simple 14 bolt swap crossmember for crossmember and i just want to be sure. sorry for ignorance.

[63sbssbbw]

That's assuming there's no engine in place.
Yes, you'll have to support the engine or just pull it and get it out of the way.
I did mine on a bare frame and glad I did as I had to suck the framerails in 3/4 of an inch.
If the engine were there,there'd have been some major cussin' LOL
T

[neverwinter]

thabks again - now i am worried lol as i thought this was pretty much a bolt in / drill holes type of dealio. ugh what did i get myself into.

[N2TRUX]

It may be a bit more work than you expected, but the results will be worth the effort. You do not have to pull the motor, you can support it instead. You don't have to pull the crossmember either. You can install the newer A-arms to your old crossmember.

[k1rodeoboater]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

It may be a bit more work than you expected, but the results will be worth the effort. You do not have to pull the motor, you can support it instead. You don't have to pull the crossmember either. You can install the newer A-arms to your old crossmember.

There is a downside to that though. You will need conversion brake hoses or cut and reweld the brake line tab on the other side of the crossmember.

There is also a 3rd option. Keep what you got, and just replace the balljoints, spindles, and steering components you were gonna need to replace anyways. It'd be wise to still get conversion hoses, but 73 to 87 hoses will fit. You need to drill a hole in your crossmember for the mounting tab (see my build thread I talk about it in there on PG 4 I think). This is necessary to take up the slack and keep it from rubbing
Posted via Mobile Device

[neverwinter]

holy cow now i am confused lol!! doesnt take much.

i am trying to do this disk and suspension swap in the best manner possible. easy would be great but ultimately i want to do it right.

looks there are 3 options:
change entire cross member meaning id need to support the engine (not a problem, have hoist, etc)

use stock cross member with new drop spindles and parts from the 79 and deal with brake line issues?

or use stock crossmember and do everything individually?

holy moly. i think i would rather try and keep the engine supported and move the 79 crossmember to the 63 and keep everythin in tact. then obv deal with brake lines, prop valve, master cycl, and suspension.

[k1rodeoboater]

Opt 1 full swap

Opt 2 swap A arms only, install the rest

Opt 3 install balljoints into 63 a arms, install spindles and everything else

I did opt 3.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Captainfab]

I've always swapped the complete crossmember, but not with an engine in place. However I have seen it done in a thread here on the forum. Do a search for a thread by 'Highlander' and you should find it. That thread should give you some insight. In installing the later model crossmember, you will need to drill one hole on each side and elongate one hole on each side. Just be safe when working around and under your engine while doing this.

Oh and just to make things simple, just stay with your original style motor mounts.

[neverwinter]

thanks all. i got all but the 3 inner bolts out. cant get a socket or a wrench in there. any ideas? i may cut or heat/bend a wrench and see if that works.

[Slammed50]

I just did the swap from a '79 donor crossmember to my '63 rails. I used the entire late model cross member because I was able to still have my '63 roll around while I got the other one sand blasted. Plus the u bolts for the lower cross shaft are bigger so I wanted to use those for strength. I only needed to elongate two holes on my frame, everything else was a direct bolt in deal. I would do the entire cross member personally, but at the very minimum use the newer control arms because you will get rubber bushings instead of metal for a nice ride. I will snap some pics tonight to show the bolt holes I needed to elongate.
Posted via Mobile Device